The Sunspire The radius of your heart

Forward dated just a smidge, to tomorrow morning-ish! (Edit: Trying out the new threadlog date changer!)

"I spy something...grey."

These were Elwood's first words upon arriving at the base of the Sunspire. He tilted his chin up, squinting against the late morning sun as he took in the looming peak. For the better part of the last hour, he and @Finley had been playing a rather silly game of "I Spy," and this last clue couldn't have been more obvious. The thing he "spied" was not only grey, it was tall and imposing and rocky.

Without waiting for a reply, he smiled at Finley and said, "Looks like we're here. Ready to meet our grandkids?" It was still weird to think that they could be old enough that their children had had children of their own -- and yet here they were, preparing to meet those grandchildren for the very first time. He could smell Rannoch's and Liffey's scents marked clearly on the border, along with a few others; he vaguely recognized Wraen, as well as Coelho and Pyro.

As the anticipation bubbled inside him and threatened to overflow, Elwood threw back his head and loosed a howl calling for @Liffey and @Rannoch.

ILL KICK HER OUT SOON but wanted to throw her in initially bc she's tryin to do thingss l

Maia had spent a better part of the night after her little trip resting her super sore feet and psyching herself up.  It felt good, doing something meaningful, and it seemed like she and Coelho's choice of place really was a good one!  Liffey and Rannoch and all them were going to explore it, and best part; Maia was gonna get to BABYSIT.  Maybe.  Probably.  This was gonna be the best.

The events did a lot to help soothe her self confidence, something that usually was pretty great, but it was hard sometimes bein the younger sibling to two wolves who did so.  Flipping. Much.

It made her want to do more too, so when the call came (something she normally woulda ignored in favor of continued napping), Maia got up and eagerly went to see who it was.  They weren't actually really calling for her, but that probably didn't actually matter.

"Hey!! Umm, what's up? Or, actually, hi my name's Maia welcome to Sunspire.  What's' up?" Nailed it!  She stopped after that, friendly grin on her face, and waited for one of these two to introduce themselves.  They were old, but she definitely didn't recognize them.  Why were they here?

"Is it also tall enough to stab the sun in the eye?" Fin replied as she followed her mate's gaze skyward. It was not her first time seeing the peak, of course. She would've had to be reeeeeeeeaaaal dumb to not notice it when she had lived just North at the Plateau. She'd spent a lot of time exploring some of its nooks and crannies back in the day, but never the real heart of it where the original Sunspire pack had staked its claim. She wondered vaguely what had ever happened to them, but dismissed it. It didn't much matter anyway, for now it was a home to her daughter and the latest generation of Blackthorns.

She looked at Elwood and gave a small smile, partnered with a nod. Fin was eager to meet the little creatures and see how they had turned out. Liffey's mate wasn't exactly gray like her and Elwood were gray, but she was still hoping for some replicas of herself in them, and they had damn well better have black spines or Liffey was going to need to find a new boy with less dominant genes.

The girl that arrived was not her daughter, but seemed to be about her age. Maybe a little younger, though it may have been the silly enthusiasm that drove that thought. Fin quirked a brow at her greeting, but never faltered in her friendly, amused smile. "Sup Maia," she replied, falling into line with the girl's tone and vocabulary, "I'm Finley and this is my mate, Elwood. We're Liffey's parents and we heard we have grandchildren now, so we came to judge their worth." Her happy tone melted into a serious one at the final comment as she attempted to fool the girl for her own amusement. No doubt someone would be along to ruin the ruse shortly.

Their timing was brilliant, really. Liffey had neglected her scouting duties in regards to finding a new territory for the pack to relocate to. She claimed she was too busy watching her kids, but it was really just her silent protest against the move in general. She knew the food shortage had crippled them, but the culprits were gone now. Things could get better now. And though she'd relented and agreed with the decision, the smile she wore when reassuring her mate was not worn on her heart. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to start over again. Still, she had finally succumbed to her guilt and was preparing for a couple of days scouting when along came Finwood, putting a stop to those plans and conveniently allowing her to continue neglecting her responsibilities.

Brilliant timing indeed.

Her kids were three months old now, so it only mostly bothered her to leave them behind where it used to completley bother her. Liffey tried to be swift in hopes of not leaving them alone for too long. She had heard only Elwood's voice, so there was room for fear to grow that he had come with unhappy news instead of on a social visit. And anyway, if he had come to meet his grandchildren, it seemed safer to her to bring her parents to them than it was to take them to the borders where they could be nabbed by hooligans or Ostregas.

A breath of relief passed her lips when she spotted two gray figures at the borders instead of just one. Excitement flooded her chest as a wide grin split and she raced to reach them. She showered each of them in a flurry of nuzzles and kisses and other affectionate wolfy greetings. "I can't believe you guys are here!" she crooned happily, foregoing saying hello to Maia while she let herself feel overwhelmed with glee at seeing her mom and dad after so many months apart.

It wasn't Liffey that intercepted them first, but a cheerful grey female marked with tan. She had a friendly, casual demeanor as she welcomed them to the Sunspire, and Elwood felt himself relax slightly in her presence. Of course, he hadn't expected any kind of hostile greeting, considering their relationship to Rannoch and Liffey, as well as the fact that he was already familiar with a few other members. But still, it was relieving to have finally reached their destination and be addressed kindly.

Finley introduced herself and Elwood to Maia, making sure to mention their grandchildren in her playful way. Elwood planned to elaborate -- to tell Maia where they had come from -- but his gaze was drawn over her shoulder by a streak of silver racing towards them. It didn't take long for him to recognize Liffey, and he laughed happily as she enveloped her parents in hugs and kisses.

"We're here!" he confirmed as soon as he could step back and take a breath. "To see our grandchildren," he added, his smile only growing.

When Liffey reacted with uncharacteristic attentiveness to the clear sound of a border-call, her murkwood daughter took notice. Typically when a howl rang out and it wasn't Daddy, Mommy only regarded the notes passively— unwilling for the most part to give her kids a hard lesson on independence— but this time was different. She watched with a burgeoning curiosity as the matron excused herself to personally answer the phone howl. Odd!  

But leaving Deshyr out of anything was getting next to impossible these days. Old enough now to observe hunting trips and manage her own way back to their densite, there were few physical pursuits that she wouldn't attempt to follow. (Water seemed to be the only thing she wasn't overly fond of, but only time would tell how deeply that aversion might take root.) She followed her mother using the same tactic she employed to catch bugs: creep and jump, creep and jump. It was poor strategy, but her slow progress put her far enough behind Liffey that she went unnoticed until the edge of Sunspire came up.

Peering from beneath a sway of tall fronds at the base of a tree, Deshyr blinked owlish eyes of seaglass as she observed the twilight-zone-like scene before here. There was Maia and Mommy... and two strangers who looked suspiciously familiar even though she was sure she'd never met them before. Weird! Her body began to quiver, two parts of her struggling against the other as she tried to stick to her plan and remain "hidden" while her confusion begged her to be settled.

"Mom?!" She burst from the bushes, driven clearly by the latter of her emotions. Deshyr bounded to Liffey's side, jumping up once to graze the she-wolf's chin affectionately, before turning sharp blues on the strangers before them. She clearly wasn't shy, but she was understandably reserved, unwilling to address them directly. "Who're them?" she asked, looking up again at her mother.

"and they had damn well better have black spines or Liffey was going to need to find a new boy with less dominant genes." Stevie, you are the most hilarious. That is all.

Oh, that was... ummm.... wait who was this?!  "They're, well.." She hadn't expected to meet Liffey's parents, or hoo boy she woulda second guessed this whole thing.  Liffey intimidated the hell out of her in that 'if I don't like you, you're gone' kinda way, and after their first impression, Maia hadn't really done a whole lot of talking with her.  Or seeing her.  Or... anything.  Oops.  To be fair, her own first impression with Rannoch had been a bit of a mess, so she wasn't one to talk.  But it's hard to forget someone puking and running off first time they set eyes on you.

Luckily she was spared having to really answer when Liffey herself showed up, and suddenly she was relegated to bystander.  Which, by all means! Fine by her!

"Yeah, I'll just... yep!"  She added, quietly, smiling and backing up to oh so smoothly fade off when they went to see the fam.

LOL I'm glad you enjoy :D

Maia seemed immediately uncomfortable, which Fin found to be curious indeed. She dropped her intensity and feel back into casual, friendly mode, hoping that might ease her a bit. There was no time to evaluate the effectiveness of her posture change, however, before Liffey came bursting into the group and Fin's attention was stolen completely. 

She gave as good as she got when it came to her daughter's physical affections, glee radiating in her own heart. Fin had never quite forgiven herself for the way she and her daughter had parted ways all that time ago. It was clear that the damage that had been done to their bond had healed, but she would never take that for granted.

Elwood explained their reason for the visit as Liffey stepped back. Fin gave an enthusiastic nod in agreement, but froze when a small voice sounded. She peeked around her daughter to set eyes on the little wolf that came darting forward to plant herself against Liffey. Her heart stopped as grandmotherhood came suddenly crashing down upon her, leaving her momentarily breathless and stupid. Holy fuckin' hell... her kid had had a kid.

Liffey delighted at the news that they had come purely for a social visit (though Elwood hadn't explicitly stated so). She stepped back to grin at them, lifting her chin a little as pride swam through her heart. If there was anything in her life she was proud of, it was the family she had cultivated here. Her girls were sweet little angels, her boy the most perfect prince the world had ever seen, and their dad was one fine sumbitch. She relished the idea of getting to show them off any chance she got. 

She came thiiiiiis close |    | to noticing Maia when distraction came again in the form of Deshyr. "D!" Liffey called back in a surprised, chiding tone as the girl dashed to her side and planted herself there. She shook her head reprovingly, but her consternation was brief. "These are your grandparents, Finley and Elwood," she informed the pup, joy and pride retaking its claim on her, Mom, Dad, this is Deshyr - One of my four little troublemakers."

As Maia backed away, leaving the family to their reunion, another wolf approached -- this one much smaller and not explicitly grey in coloration, but still unmistakably Liffey's daughter. Elwood's eyes widened and his smile broadened. He hadn't expected to see any of the grandkids so soon, but it seemed that this little adventurer had followed her mother to the borders. His tail waved as he regarded her with anticipation.

"Deshyr," he repeated, lowering himself onto his stomach even as Finley gaped openly at her granddaughter. "It's nice to meet you. I'm your...grandpa," he said, hesitating only slightly before officially calling himself by his newest title. She seemed understandably wary, but not particularly shy, so he hoped that she would warm up to him and Grandma Fin quickly.

These are your grandparents. Deshyr didn't react like she understood the words at first. Instead she could only ogle as they were introduced as Finley - bug eyes turned on the Blackthorn matriarch, their expressions uncannily similar - and Elwood. She turned her gaze on a smart-looking gentleman; not as big or as handsome as Dad, but he looked... nice. And they both in some way, reminded her of Mom.

She looked up at Liffey again, and as the matron called her grandparents Mom and Dad, it clicked to her that these were the wolves she had been learning about since she knew the difference between a made-up story and a true story. And that was a whopping three weeks ago! Deshyr warmed instantly to the newcomers, more aware now of her mother's ambient euphoria at having her parents near. It was the same feeling she got whenever Liffey or Rannoch returned from a hunt or some less interesting "business".

The girl turned excited eyes on her grandfather as she was beckoned, and as he lowered himself to the ground, she proceeded to close the distance between them. She sniffed at the ground, still a bit leery and adjusting to their completely new scents, but after one or two pauses and false starts and zero looking back for support, she came to meet noses with Elwood before graduating to sniffing him all over.

Going to do a little bit of powerplaying since Stevie's characters are on PPC now! I'll also be posting with Breccan (later tonight if I can) if you want to continue for another round or two, @Deshyr! :)

Elwood waited patiently as Deshyr checked him out. He actually felt a little nervous, being assessed by his granddaughter; he could only hope that she would approve of him. After a few seconds, his worries were assuaged as she gently tapped her nose against his and then began to sniff at him heartily.

He grinned and looked up at @Liffey and @Finley, who smiled their approval. "Come on, I'll take you to meet Deshyr's siblings," Liffey said, and her invitation was quickly accepted by the new grandparents. "Can you show us the way?" Elwood asked Deshyr with wave of his tail.

As the little group fell into step and began to ascend the mountainside, the adults discussed the logistics of their visit. With Liffey's agreement, Elwood and Finley decided to stay for a few days. She also filled them in on the pack's impending move. Elwood felt relief that they had decided to go ahead and make this trip -- if they had waited, they could very well have missed their window of opportunity and wouldn't know where the pack had relocated.

After a relatively short journey, they arrived at what appeared to be the family's densite. Liffey called for her children; a classically-colored Blackthorn girl approached cautiously and was introduced as @Remi, while her sister, called @Wisp, regarded them with suspicion from a distance and avoided meeting their gazes. "And Breccan is around here somewhere..." Liffey mused; Elwood glanced to and fro while Finley lowered herself onto her stomach to talk in quiet tones with Remi.

Liffey's initial approach didn't draw Breccan's attention -- he was much too busy digging a hole in the hard, rocky dirt a short distance away -- but when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and noticed that there were other wolves with her, he looked up sharply. With mud on his muzzle and his paws, he watched as Liffey was accompanied by Deshyr and two unfamiliar adults.

When Liffey spotted him, she beckoned him to approach. Unlike Remi and Wisp, who seemed a little wary of the strangers, Breccan strode toward them with confidence. His ears were pricked and his tail curled over his back, though not in an aggressive manner. "These are your grandparents. My mom and dad," his mother said, and his gaze shifted to the two grey-pelted grown-ups. They did seem to be older than Liffey, and there was something friendly and warm about them, so the naturally bold Breccan immediately felt at ease in their presence.

"I'm Breccan," he said, then, after an inquisitive sniff, he asked, "Where d'you live?"

*roleplays with self and concludes*

While Wisp hung back and wouldn't warm up to the unfamiliar social situation until much later, Remi and Deshyr were easily engaged by Finley while Elwood interacted with Breccan. The boy had promptly asked where they hailed from, so Elwood gave him an equally timely answer. "We live in a place called Heron Lake Plateau, but our pack is called Redhawks. It's a family name. The plateau is a few days' travel from here," he explained.

This brought on an onslaught of follow up questions from Breccan, which Grandpa El was all too happy to answer. The next few days were spent in the company of family, and when Elwood and Finley eventually departed for home, their hearts were full.